County Board candidates Republican Mark Kelly, left, Green Party candidate Kevin Chisholm, and Democrat Chris Zimmerman, right. (Photo: TBD Staff)

Although things mostly fell along the usual lines at last night's Candidates Night in Arlington — Democrats heralding their achievements during the most recent term, Republicans advocating for a "fresh voice" on the all-Dem County Board — County Board incumbent Chris Zimmerman did find himself on the hot seat with regard to his representation of Arlington on the Metro Board of Directors.

"Metro's performance has deteriorated significantly since your time on the Metro board. How would you rate your performance on the board?" asked Bethe Wolffe of Arlington County Taxpayers Association, referencing the Red line Metro accident in 2009.

"Safety is a personal matter for me. I will do everything I can as a board member on safety," Zimmerman said.

He chalked up Metro's current problems to the years of "inadequate investment" in the system's infrastructure. That lack of investment led to deferred maintenance, he added. "We aren't going to be able to deal with any of these problems until we solve that problem," he said of Metro's investment shortfalls.

Republican candidate Mark Kelly called Metro's problem "a leadership issue, not a money issue." He pointed to the independent studies of the Metro crash. "It had nothing to do with money. It was the culture of metro that was the problem," he says. "So saying it was all about money is not a full and complete answer."

Kelly said that if he were elected, he would not seek the Metro board seat, and rather advocate for someone independent of the County Board to serve on the Metro board representing Arlington.

Green Party candidate Kevin Chisholm, who is also running for Zimmerman's seat, said that were he on the Metro board, he would advocate for being "a strong force" for trying to get the other jurisdictions paying into Metro "to pony up" the money needed for infrastructure investments.